Bill Details
HR.1619 - 119th Congress
Status
Latest action
2025-02-26 - Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Introduced Date
2025-02-26
Policy Area
International Affairs
Committees
View committees (1)
Cosponsors
View cosponsors (1)
5
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AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This bill would stop U.S. foreign aid from going to any foreign government that the Secretary of State finds is censoring speech or limiting free speech in ways that would be protected under the U.S. Constitution. It also covers cases where a foreign government tries to pressure social media sites, online platforms, or media organizations to silence or remove speech. The bill allows the President to override the ban if there is a national security reason, but only after consulting Congress and sending a written explanation in advance.
- The Secretary of State would decide whether a foreign government has censored speech or used official pressure to get a platform or media outlet to censor protected speech.
- If such a determination is made, U.S. assistance to that country would be blocked for that fiscal year and any later year covered by the law.
- Each determination would have to be published in the Federal Register, making the decision public.
- The President could issue a waiver for national security reasons, but must consult Congress and provide a report at least 15 days before the waiver takes effect.
Official Summaries
No summaries available
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1619 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1619
To prohibit assistance, including assistance under the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961, to foreign governments that abridge the right
to free speech that would be speech protected by the Constitution of
the United States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 26, 2025
Ms. Mace (for herself and Ms. Salazar) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit assistance, including assistance under the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961, to foreign governments that abridge the right
to free speech that would be speech protected by the Constitution of
the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``No Funds for Fascists Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.
(a) In General.--None of the funds authorized to be appropriated or
otherwise made available for assistance, including assistance under the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, for any fiscal year that begins on or
after the date of the enactment of this Act may be obligated or
expended to provide assistance to the government of any foreign country
if the Secretary of State determines that--
(1) such government, or any employee acting under official
authority or influence--
(A) abridges the right to free speech that would be
speech protected by the Constitution of the United
States; or
(B) censors speech that would be speech protected
by the Constitution of the United States; and
(2) such government, or any employee acting under official
authority or influence, uses any form of communication (without
regard to whether the communication is visible to members of
the public) to direct, coerce, compel, or encourage a provider
of a covered platform to take, suggest or imply that a provider
of a covered platform should take, or request that a provider
of a covered platform take, any action to censor speech that
would be speech protected by the Constitution of the United
States.
(b) Publication in Federal Register.--The Secretary of State shall
publish in the Federal Register each determination made under
subsection (a).
(c) Waiver.--Assistance prohibited by subsection (a) may be
provided to a country described in that subsection if--
(1) the President determines that national security
interests justify a waiver of subsection (a) with respect to
the country; and
(2) at least 15 days before the waiver takes effect, the
President--
(A) consults with the Committee on Foreign Affairs
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate regarding the proposed
waiver; and
(B) submits to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the chairman of the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate a report containing--
(i) the name of the recipient country;
(ii) a description of the national security
interests which require the waiver;
(iii) the type and amount of and the
justification for the assistance to be provided
pursuant to the waiver; and
(iv) the period of time during which such
waiver will be effective.
(d) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``covered platform'' means--
(A) an interactive computer service, as that term
is defined in section 230(f) of the Communications Act
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)); and
(B) any platform through which a media organization
disseminates information, without regard to whether the
organization disseminates that information--
(i) through broadcast or print;
(ii) online; or
(iii) through any other channel; and
(2) the term ``employee acting under official authority or
influence'', with respect to a foreign government, means--
(A) any employee of such government; and
(B) includes--
(i) a head of state or head of such
government; and
(ii) an individual working under contract
with such government.
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